Naresh -- One year ago today was the official launch of the Obama 2012 campaign. On April 4th, 2011, President Obama sent you a message, copied below, to kick this thing off, and about five staffers and I came to work in an empty office in Chicago with nothing but a desire to build this campaign the right way, with you at the heart of it. Today, I've got some news that I wanted you to hear first: More grassroots supporters pitched in during the first fundraising quarter of 2012 than in any before. We're still crunching the numbers before our official report to the FEC later this month, but as of Saturday at midnight, more than 1.8 million people had stepped up to own a piece of this campaign. Saturday in particular was the single biggest day of grassroots support yet -- more than 118,000 contributions in 24 hours alone leading up to the deadline. That's more than any single day in the history of this campaign. At the very same time, we were out registering thousands of new voters, recruiting volunteers in every state, and reaching out to independent voters to talk about the President's accomplishments. Thank you. Not just for your support this quarter -- thank you for committing to what this campaign stands for, like the idea that we ought to rebuild an economy where hard work pays, responsibility is rewarded and everyone plays by the same rules. Thank you for standing behind the President as he brings the war in Afghanistan to a responsible end. Thank you for supporting an energy policy for the 21st Century to boost our economy and save our planet, and for committing to protect women's health from those who would turn back the clock. We've put something together to remind all of us about the spirit of how we got here. Check it out and make a commitment to volunteer and help win this thing in November. Today's an important day in this race for another reason: Mitt Romney won three more primaries last night, and an increasing number of folks in the Republican Party establishment are calling for the GOP nominating process to come to an end. (No surprise there: It's been a disaster for their party and may well be producing a candidate that will be the most unpopular nominee in presidential campaign history.) A number of states still haven't voted, and the race on their side won't be over officially for several weeks or even months. But the reality is that we're very close to the start of what's effectively a general election. That means we've all got to refocus the way we've been thinking about this race right now -- and dig in and work even harder to help re-elect Barack Obama. Every phone call you make, every conversation you have, every dollar you give, translates into an organization that will get voters to the polls on November 6th, 2012. So if you've been waiting to step up your support, now's the time to jump in. Take a look at what we've put together and then decide if you're ready to volunteer: http://my.barackobama.com/One-Year-Ago Seven months to go. Messina Jim Messina Campaign Manager Obama for America P.S. -- We've put together a video for today that I think you'll love -- it should get you pretty fired up. -----------------Original Message----------------- From: Barack Obama Subject: 2012 Friend -- Today, we are filing papers to launch our 2012 campaign. We're doing this now because the politics we believe in does not start with expensive TV ads or extravaganzas, but with you -- with people organizing block-by-block, talking to neighbors, co-workers, and friends. And that kind of campaign takes time to build. So even though I'm focused on the job you elected me to do, and the race may not reach full speed for a year or more, the work of laying the foundation for our campaign must start today. We've always known that lasting change wouldn't come quickly or easily. It never does. But as my administration and folks across the country fight to protect the progress we've made -- and make more -- we also need to begin mobilizing for 2012, long before the time comes for me to begin campaigning in earnest. As we take this step, I'd like to share a video that features some folks like you who are helping to lead the way on this journey. Please take a moment to watch: In the coming days, supporters like you will begin forging a new organization that we'll build together in cities and towns across the country. And I'll need you to help shape our plan as we create a campaign that's farther reaching, more focused, and more innovative than anything we've built before. We'll start by doing something unprecedented: coordinating millions of one-on-one conversations between supporters across every single state, reconnecting old friends, inspiring new ones to join the cause, and readying ourselves for next year's fight. This will be my final campaign, at least as a candidate. But the cause of making a lasting difference for our families, our communities, and our country has never been about one person. And it will succeed only if we work together. There will be much more to come as the race unfolds. Today, simply let us know you're in to help us begin, and then spread the word: http://my.barackobama.com/2012 Thank you, Barack

Contributions or gifts to Obama for America are not tax deductible

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Amdocs Celebrates 30 Years of Industry Leadership

By sagarmedia on April 4, 2012 | Edit

Amdocs Celebrates 30 Years of Industry Leadership

By Focusing on Customer Success

Introduces new brand promise to help customers “Embrace Challenge, Experience Success”

and unveils Amdocs Enreach program to commercialize innovative technologies

from startups and research institutes

New Delhi, 4th April, 2012¾ Amdocs (NYSE: DOX) today celebrated its 30^th anniversary as the market leader serving the world’s top communications service providers with customer experience systems. To mark this milestone, Amdocs introduced its new brand promise ‒ “Embrace Challenge, Experience Success” ‒ that represents its commitment to help customers win in the rapidly evolving connected world. In yet another example of its comprehensive industry leadership, the company also unveiled Amdocs Enreach, a new partner program designed to deliver more value to Amdocs’ global customer base by harnessing innovation from young companies and research institutes around the world in combination with its CES product portfolio.

“Embrace Challenge, Experience Success”
Amdocs’ brand promise reflects the company’s values and unique ability to help its customers successfully overcome the industry’s biggest challenges with its comprehensive CES 8 product portfolio, value-driven professional services and global managed service operations. To succeed today and tomorrow, service providers must navigate two critical frontiers: the customer-facing frontier, in which customers face a blizzard of choice in services, devices and price plans; and the network-facing frontier, defined by the insatiable demand for data as more devices, people and applications connect to the network.
Amdocs helps service providers conquer both frontiers by addressing four key business imperatives:

• Simplify Experience: by masking the complexities of applications, services and devices and delivering a personalized customer experience to the end user with tailored interactions via the right channel, the right offering and the right context to every customer.
• Harness Data: by keeping up with the ever-growing demand for bandwidth and profiting from network investments through the unique integration of business support systems (BSS) and network capabilities with end-to-end offerings that span network planning, optimization, policy management and service monetization.
• Stay Ahead: by realizing the full potential of the connected world with the faster launch of new business models and new revenue-generating services individually and in conjunction with partners.
• Be Efficient: by increasing service providers’ efficiencies across their operations by streamlining business processes, optimizing resources, reducing operational costs and lowering cost structures.

 “While Amdocs has evolved significantly over the past 30 years to meet the changing needs of our industry, what strikes me most is how little one key aspect of the company has changed  - the relentless determination of our employees to do whatever it takes to ensure our customers’ business success,” said Eli Gelman, chief executive officer of Amdocs Management Limited. “I joined the company more than 24 years ago, when we were an early-stage software company. Today, global Amdocs has offices in 60 countries with more than 19,000 employees, and our software solutions help more than 250 service providers meet the daily needs of 2 billion end consumers across the planet. We take great pride in our unrivalled ‘always deliver’ track record and industry-first innovations — all of which gives me confidence that Amdocs’ best 30 years are still ahead of us.”

Driving Innovation – Amdocs Enreach Program
Underscoring the company’s industry leadership, Amdocs today launched Amdocs Enreach, the next step in its global program to foster innovative technologies from young companies and research institutes. Enreach takes Amdocs’ partner program to the next level by establishing a partners lab to test unique scenarios and integrate with Amdocs core technologies; by building multi-company solutions that can help service providers holistically address new opportunities in emerging areas; and by focusing on domains such as Pay TV, machine-to-machine (M2M), smart networks and marketing/loyalty programs. Amdocs Enreach currently includes 75 active partner companies, innovation programs at 11 universities and more than 12 multi-company solutions from 35 partners in the Amdocs Enreach ecosystem.

Supporting Resources

• To read more on Amdocs’ company milestones and 30-year achievements, visit here
• Learn more about Amdocs’ portfolio
• Keep up with Amdocs news by visiting the company’s website
• Subscribe to Amdocs’ RSS Feed and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn

About Amdocs
For 30 years, Amdocs has ensured service providers’ success and embraced their biggest challenges. To win in the connected world, service providers rely on Amdocs to simplify the customer experience, harness the data explosion, stay ahead with new services and improve operational efficiency. The global company uniquely combines a market-leading BSS, OSS and network control product portfolio with value-driven professional services and managed services operations.  With revenue of $3.2 billion in fiscal 2011, Amdocs and its over 19,000 employees serve customers in more than 60 countries.
Amdocs: Embrace Challenge, Experience Success.
For more information, visit Amdocs at www.amdocs.com.

Amdocs’ Forward-Looking Statement
This press release includes information that constitutes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about Amdocs’ growth and business results in future quarters. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be obtained or that any deviations will not be material. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ from those anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited to, the effects of general economic conditions, Amdocs’ ability to grow in the business segments it serves, adverse effects of market competition, rapid technological shifts that may render the Company’s products and services obsolete, potential loss of a major customer, our ability to develop long-term relationships with our customers, and risks associated with operating businesses in the international market. Amdocs may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, however the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These and other risks are discussed at greater length in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2011, filed on December 8, 2011.

For human happiness, one must care for the animals, especially the cows.
Gelatin used for the clarification of juices, such as apple juice and vinegar. Isinglass, from the swim bladders of fish, is still used as a refining agent for wine and beer. Yellow coloured soft drinks contain gelatin as it makes beta-carotene water-soluble. To name a few products that are available in the Indian market - mentos, altoids, Trident gum, Mints, Skittles, Starbursts, M&M’s, Cupcakes, Snicker bars, Kellogg’s Rice Krispies, Ranch Salad dressing, Hershey’s Cheetos, Twix bars, Kellogg’s Marshmallow Froot Loops cereal, Kellogg’s Smorz cereal, Kellogg’s Frosted Pop-Tarts, Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal, Kellogg’s Fruit-Flavored Snacks , Milky Way, Yoplait Yoghurt

How many times a day do you eat a cow or a pig? Every time you eat gelatin. You do not even see it so you have no idea how it is made. This is how. Gelatin is made from decaying animal hides, boiled crushed bones, connective tissues of cattle and pigs. Animal bones, skins, and tissue are obtained from slaughter houses. Gelatin processing plants are usually located near slaughterhouses and often the owners of gelatin factories have their own slaughterhouses where animals are killed just for their skin and bones. When the animal parts arrive at the food processing plant, they are supposed to be inspected for quality and the rotten parts discarded.

##stopcowkilling

There are no inspection systems in India so you can rule this out. The bones, tissues are loaded into chopping machines that cut the parts into small pieces. A gelatin factory has cow skins piled to the ceiling. The skins are left to putrefy or “cure” for about a month in vats of lime. The stench from the factory can be smelt for miles. After the hides are ripe they are put into vats of acid that disintegrates the cow hairs, skin, and cartilage. Acids and alkalines such as caustic lime or sodium carbonate are used. The gelatin obtained from acid treated raw material has been called type-A gelatin, and the gelatin obtained from alkali treated raw material is referred to as type-B gelatin. (In order to confuse buyers into thinking they are eating vegetarian alternative, many food products put Type B gelatin on their ingredients list.) This is washed in water and then cooked till it becomes a white goo or gel.

##stopcowkilling

The gelatin is then filtered, evaporated, dried, ground to separate the water from the gelatin solution and shipped off to different companies. By now the cow’s skin and bones have been transformed into a translucent, colourless, brittle, flavourless solid substance called gelatin. Commercially manufactured gelatin is packaged in ¼-ounce envelopes of desiccated granules, paper-thin sheets, known as leaves and meltable blocks. Sweeteners, flavourings, and colourings are added in the preparation of food gelatin. The worldwide production amount of gelatin is about 3,00,000 tons per year, about 660 million pounds. It is used in food, pharmaceuticals, photography and cosmetics. These four industries collectively consume over 95 percent of gelatin globally. The balance 5 percent is used in abrasive paper, textiles, matches & printer rollers. Common examples of foods that contain gelatin are gelatin desserts, jellies, trifles, aspic, marshmallows, yogurt, jelly babies, transparent sweets, jams, cream cheese, chewing gum, blancmange, charlottes, mousses, cake icing and frosting, Bavarian creams, sour cream, Turkish Delight, nougat, margarine, cake mixes, bakery glazes, meringues, ice cream, coffee, and powdered milk. It is used in jellied soups, aspic, sauces and gravies, canned ham and chicken, corned beef, sausage. It is also used in fat reduced foods to simulate the feel of fat and to create volume without adding calories.

##stopcowkilling

It is used for the clarification of juices, such as apple juice and vinegar. Isinglass, from the swim bladders of fish, is still used as a refining agent for wine and beer. Yellow coloured soft drinks contain gelatin as it makes beta-carotene water-soluble. To name a few products that are available in the Indian market - mentos, altoids, Trident gum, Mints, Skittles, Starbursts, M&M’s, Cupcakes, Snicker bars, Kellogg’s Rice Krispies, Ranch Salad dressing, Hershey’s Cheetos, Twix bars, Kellogg’s Marshmallow Froot Loops cereal, Kellogg’s Smorz cereal, Kellogg’s Frosted Pop-Tarts, Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal, Kellogg’s Fruit-Flavored Snacks , Milky Way, Yoplait Yoghurt. Gelatin forms the shells of pharmaceutical capsules. Gelatin is also used as an ingredient in implantable medical devices, such as in some bone void fillers. It’s also in lozenges, and ointments.

##stopcowkilling

Gelatin is closely related to bone glue and is used as a binder in match heads and sandpaper. It is used to hold silver halide crystals in an emulsion in virtually all photographic films and photographic papers. Cosmetics contain gelatin under the name hydrolyzed collagen. Gelatin is also used in nail polish remover and makeup applications. The gelatin is often tinted in different colours to match a model’s natural skin tone.  Gelatin is found in some glossy printing papers, artistic papers, playing cards. It maintains the wrinkles in crêpe paper.  Blocks of ballistic gelatin simulate muscle tissue as a standardized medium for testing firearms ammunition.  It is commonly used as a biological substrate to culture cells. Alternatives to gelatin include non-animal gel sources such as agar-agar (a seaweed), carrageenan, pectin, konjak, and guar gum but they will never be used unless you demand them.

--

धन्यवाद एवं हार्दिक शुभेच्छा,

राकेश चन्द्र
प्रकृति आरोग्य  केंद्र
सेंद्रिय, आयुर्वेदिक, वनस्पतीय, प्राकृतिक और स्वदेशी वस्तुओं का वैशेषिक विक्रय केंद्र 

G S Kalkat heads Committee on Punjab State Agriculture Policy

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today approved the constitution of ten-member committee to formulate a long-term State Agriculture Policy. The Committee would be headed by the Chairman of the Punjab State Farmers’ Commission G S Kalkat. Financial Commissioner Development G S Sandhu, Vice Chancellor Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana B S Dhillon, Director National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research, New Delhi, Ramesh Chand, Director Indian Institute of Horticultural Research Bangaluru A S Sidhu, among others, would be its members. Managing Director, Milkfed and Member Secretary Punjab State Farmers Commission, B S Sidhu, would be its Member Secretary.

The Committee would submit its report within three months, an official spokesman said here today. He further said that it was the need of the hour to evolve a long term State Agriculture Policy to overcome the stagnation in the agriculture sector, besides improving the economic lot of rural masses by making agriculture profession remunerative and economically viable. Agriculture is the backbone of Punjab economy since it provided direct or indirect employment to about 50 per cent of the state’s population and contributes around 28 per cent towards Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), he said.

Agriculture based on Rice-Wheat cropping system has slowly turned into an unrewarding activity due to unfavorable price regime and lack of value addition. The situation is likely to be further exacerbated due to increase in production of rice and wheat in other parts of the country and integration of agricultural trade with global markets.

Jayant Kastuar Performance

 Dated: 04.04.2012 New Delhi:

Highlights:1)      The first in the series of Kathak public performances of Jayant Kastuar in the capital – the former Secretary of Sangeet Natak Akademi – after he demitted his office in December 2011 to pursue his North Star –  for claiming the life he was meant to live .
2)      Vice Chairman of Sangeet Natak Akademi and Chairperson of APPAN (Asia Pacific Performing Arts Network) , Smt  Shanta  Serbjeet Singh was the chief guest.
3)     Programme was held in memory of  Manna Srinivasan, an eminent cultural activist and Secretary of New Artists Forum

Nritya Choodamani Jayant Kastuar replaced magic with rhythm at Kamani auditorium this evening with his stunning piece of Kathak performance before a spell bound audience. The former Secretary and the chief executive of Sangeet Natak Akademi - having mentored hundreds of dance exponents across the country for nearly three decades - Jayant was in his  elements while performing in memory of Sri Manna Srinivasan in a classical dance program organized by New Artists Forum.

The Chief Guest of the evening was the Vice Chairman of Sangeet Natak Akademi and Chairperson of APPAN (Asia Pacific Performing Arts Network) , Smt  Shanta  Serbjeet Singh who remarked, “the ultimate test of any dance is its capacity to touch the heart of rasikas. This happens when the instrument of the dance – the body – is transcended and it no longer matters whether it is young or old, fair or dark, male or female. All that matters then is the creation of rasa and the route through which it is transcended. Jayant’s dance did that”.

The New Artists Forum – a trust committed to the cause of promotion of classical dance –organized this program in memory of its former Secretary, late Manna Srinivasan, who was a well known writer, critic and researcher on performing arts. His specific contribution lies in the painstaking effort he undertook to introduce, showcase and promote artists of the south in the capital and of North in South India. Quipped Tarveen Mehra, the President of the New Artists’ Forum – who herself a senior Kuchipudi dancer - “Mannaji and I started the Forum almost 35 years ago and promoted many new talents, some of whom like Jayant Kastuar are national celebrities today.”

Talking about his performance today, Jayant Kastuar shared, “ Manna Srinivasan was very close to me  and my Guru Pandit Durga Lal ji and it is my honour to perform in homage to a passionate cultural worker like him.”

ABOUT JAYANT KASTUAR

Former Secretary & CEO of I ndia’s National Academy of Performing Arts –  The Sangeet Natak Akademi - Jayant Kastuar is India’s outstanding Kathak exponent, art administrator, speaker, thinker, and visionary in the world of Indian Performing Arts today.

Born 26 Januar y 1955 in Jamshedpur and educated at St. Stephens College in Delhi, Jayant Kastuar represents a rare combination of excellence in classical art, academics and public service. He has equally excelled in stage design, conceptualization and presentation of national and international shows and public speaking on the subject of performing arts. He has pioneered several national and global projects and undertaken significant initiatives for preservation and promotion of the performing art traditions, whichearned him wide respect across the country. He has extensively traveled abroad to countries such as USA, China, Japan, Korea, Brazil among others and designed international shows and programs in many countries.

After a long stint of over 12 years as Secretary and the chief executive of the apex cultural body of per forming arts in India –Sangeet Natak Akademi – Jayant Kastuar voluntary relinquished his post in December 2011 in order to pursue his North Star –  for claiming the life he was meant to live –  especially to focus on art and academics. He is currently a member of the Executive Board of the Sangeet Natak Akademi.

Jayant took to the stage in 1957, gave his first solo performance of Kathak in 1959 and gained wide acclaim as a child prodigy in his region during 1960s. Initially trained by Guru Shri Indra Kumar Pattanaik, he later came under the tutelage of the renowned master of the Jaipur Gharana, Pandit Durga Lal from whom he received higher training in Delhi. He is today recognized as an outstanding representative of Pandit Durga Lal‘s Kathak style.

Jayant Kastuar has performed widely across the country and participated in major festivals of dance. He is known for his commanding performance as a soloist of the old school. With his exposure to different styles of kathak dance for over half a century, he is at once traditional as he is innovative. He excels both in Nritta or pure dance as well as in Nritya and Abhinaya, the expressional parts. His wide range of innovative Gatnik as and rendering of Bhava to H industani thumries or compositions of other traditions are highly acclaimed. He has presented a number of lectures and demonstrations for the benefit of artists, students of dance, research scholars and university students and IFS probationers. He has also taught dance to young students from time to time, conducted workshops in different cities like Lucknow, Pune, Bhopal, Kolkata, Guwahati, Delhi among others and given guidance to hundreds of young dancers.

Among the major organizations he has performed for are Sangeet Natak Akademi of India, Sangeet Natak Akademies of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Zonal Cultural Centers, state academies and cultural departments of Manipur, Goa, Assam, Karnataka, West Bengal, Kerala, and Madhya Pradesh. Prestigious events he has participated in are Kathak Mahotsav (New Delhi), Khajuraho Dance Festival (MP), Konark Festival (Orissa), Uday Shankar Festival (Kolkata), Nehru Centre Dance Festival (Mumbai), Lacchhu Mahraj Jayanti (Lucknow), Ganga Mahotsav (Varanasi), Chakradhar Samaroh (Raigarh), Natyanjali (Chidambarm), Baudhdha Mahotsav (Sarnath), Bhagyachandra Dance Festival (Manipur), and festivals of Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Brahma Gana Sabha, Bharat Kalachar of Chennai.

For his excellence and achievement in dance, Jayant Kastuar has been honoured with the titles of Nritya Choodamani by Shri Krishna Gana Sabha and Natya Padmam by Brahma Gana Sabha of Chennai. The Pracheen Kala Kendra, Chandigarh honoured him as Nritya Shiromani. He has also been honoured with the prestigious Raseswar Saikia Barbayan Award of Assam and the Tala Vadya Samman conferred by the Mardala Academy, Bhubaneswer.

Posted 18 hours ago by Nksagar

Political Affairs is the monthly online Marxist magazine of the People Before Profits network, which also includes the   Peoples World, and the online site of the Communist Party. The new issue focuses on the labor movement, and has some great articles. It features reviews of the current labor movement, history of political strikes, labor and the 2012 elections, critiques of labor critiques, the role of service workers, the conditions of minimum wage workers, and more. Here is a list of contents of this issue, with links to the individual articles. Labor Fightback in the Great Recession, by Scott Marshall. Despite 30 years of relentless corporate, political, and right wing attack, the labor movement is responding with new alliances, nontraditional forms of organizing, international solidarity, and political action.  Service Workers Unite, by John Case. Provides a wealth of information about the changing composition and nature of the work force in the US, and discusses the implications for the labor movement and working class organizing. Labor: An Analysis of Past Strikes, Political Strikes, Present and Future Struggles, by Norman Markowitz. Discusses the relationship between union organizing in the workplace and political action by the working class in the US since the 1880s. Special attention to the most successful period in American labor history -- the New Deal era of the 1930s and 1940s and the lseeons for the present situation. Working Class Values in 2012, by Joelle Fishman. The role of the labor movement in the 2012 elections, with lessons from the grassroots organizing by unions and community labor allies in New Haven CT in building an independent political base and winning local elections. Can labor recover from its critics? by Sam Webb. Some on the left, such as sociologist Francis Fox Piven, are critical of the labor movement and look to groups like the Occupy movement to lead a movement for change. Webb replies that this estimate of labor not only amounts to a misrepresentation of what labor is doing, but also expresses a patronizing attitude toward the organization that represents working women and men. The 89%: Where Anarchism Shuns Unionists, the Ultraleft Allies with the Ultraright, by Greg Rose. Some of the participants in the Occupy movement are critical, even contemptuous of unions and the labor movement. By trivializing the struggles of organized labor, by demonizing organized labor as the enemy of progressive elements in Occupy, by telling activists that union struggles are lost already and that they need to do something else the ultraleft anarchist presence in the Occupy movement has become an open collaborator with the ultraright. Raise the Minimum Wage! by John Case. Raising the minimum wage doesn't only help minimum wage workers -- it is important for all of us.